Dump Wall Street Money Now--Sign the Petition

by: tasini

Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 11:02

  The idea is pretty simple: It calls for both major parties to return every dollar pocketed from Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs has been charged with serious crimes by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Politicians cannot, and should not, wait for a verdict from the courtroom--which could take years. We must hold politicians to a higher standard.

Voters need to know TODAY that our political leaders will not finance their campaigns with cash from companies facing serious criminal charges or ethical violations.

People will make at least three arguments against this effort, two of which come from politicians. First, political contributions do not influence votes--this is an argument that politicians will make because voters are not so stupid to believe that phony argument.

Second, as I suggest above, the more craven argument from politicians is that no one at Goldman Sachs has not been convicted of anything so no money has to be returned. I submit that the standard of finding guilt or innocence in a courtroom should not guide a decision about whether to hold on to a political contribution. We should expect more and demand more from political leaders.

Please sign the petition--and spread the word.